Fleas

What’s eating you?

Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark marvel at fleas, past and present. They discuss the flea’s role in the Black Death, reveal the source of the flea’s jump, and speculate on what ancient flea-like insects recently discovered as fossils in China ate for dinner.

Graphic: Engraving of a flea from Robert Hooke’s 1665 Micrographia, funded by the Royal Society. Some of the illustrations were made by Christopher Wren. Originally, this illustration was a gatefold.